


With Fire and Sword

by NinaVale



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Magic, Multi, Post-Volume 1 (RWBY), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-05-01 16:59:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14525160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinaVale/pseuds/NinaVale
Summary: The World of Remnant is enjoying a time of peace, and the Vytal Festival, created to celebrate these times is looming over, but when team RWBY investigates recent dust robberies they find out that not everything is as it seems, and that the fate of the world and peace they live in is at stake.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own RWBY.

 

Ruby was walking down the streets in Vale, this time without her teammates. They all had something to do, Yang was out with some of her older friends, whom she had apparently lost touch with due to the team activities, Weiss was studying or checking something, Ruby didn't really know what, and Blake...well Blake took her favourite book and if there was anything that Ruby learned about her silent teammate is that you absolutely did not disturb her when she was reading  _Ninjas of Love_. So, with nothing better to do, Ruby went off on her own to Vale. Maybe she would go comic book hunting? Or book hunting? Her musings had been interrupted when she spotted a familiar figure across the street.

"Penny!" she cried out, waving her hand at the ginger "Penny!"

The girl turned around hearing her name being called, but upon seeing Ruby she smiled and slowed down, allowing the young huntress to catch up.

"Salutations Ruby Rose," she said "it is very nice to see you again"

Ruby smiled

"Same," she said "so, why did you leave us so quickly after we found Blake?" she asked.

She and her team had bumped into Penny on two occasions, a couple of days ago. One time near the docks where Weiss had taken them to spy on arriving exchange students, and the second time when they had been looking for Blake. Penny had offered her help then and came with Ruby while Yang went with Weiss. However later when all was resolved and Ruby turned to thank Penny for cooperation, the ginger-haired girl wasn't there anymore.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Penny, looking a bit sheepish "but you see General Ironwood ordered me to come back, he can be pretty...overprotective," she said "but he does it because he cares about me. He and my father are very good friends and my father left me under his supervision"

Ruby nodded in perfect understanding Her own father was a bit like that as well, always worrying about where she was and what she was up to. Despite what Weiss always said she wasn't a complete dolt, she'd noticed that even though he was happy for her, when she revealed that she had been moved ahead two years, he was also terrified. She wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't called Ozpin that very night to ask him to do the same thing General was doing.

"I hope General wasn't angry with you," she said. James Ironwood wasn't known for his softness, after all, quite on the contrary, the general opinion of him was that of a strict and even cold commanding officer.

"Oh, no," said Penny "he just asked me to inform him when I will be away, so he knows where I am"

"That's fair" agreed Ruby "so that means we can hang out together and be friends?"

Penny nodded "Yes, he and my father think that making friends will do me good. You see, I never really had any before I met you, Ruby"

Ruby didn't comment on the answer, merely smiling. After all, she herself was very socially awkward. And Penny hailed from Atlas, where people were rather reserved, which probably made it even more difficult to make friends.

"Well, there isn't just me. Yang, Blake and even Weiss will like you too, once you spend some time with them! Oh, and team JNPR is cool too. Maybe we can all hang out together? I mean you're gonna be in Vale for quite a while because of the Vytal Festival" said Ruby, her voice growing more and more excited as she spoke "this is gonna be so much fun! We can show you around Beacon, and train together! Oh, and go to the movies! There are gonna to be some really great ones in coming months, and when Vytal comes along there is gonna be a lot of fun things to do as well. I don't know how Vytal looks in Atlas since you know it's so cold, but Festivals in Vale? They're the best thing ever! There are fair grounds and lots of arcade games with stuffed animals to win, and eating competitions, and challenges, and food stalls with stuff from all the Kingdoms and firework shows, and plays, and music with live bands! And then there is Vytal Tournament itself! Cool weapons and teams fighting one another, doing their best to represent their school! You're gonna love it!"

Penny's eyes widened in excitement as well.

"Are you telling the truth?" she asked, "do you truly want to see all those things with me?"

"Yep" confirmed Ruby, grinning widely. Oh how she wished Blake and Weiss were this enthusiastic about things

"And you're going to introduce me to your friends, so they can be my friends too?" pressed on the ginger.

"Yep" confirmed Ruby again. She already knew that Yang will like Penny very much, and Nora and Jaune too. She wasn't so sure about Weiss but surely Penny being an Atlesian and knowing General will help. Weiss would also appreciate Penny's formal way of speaking. She chuckled, imagining how such conversation would look like.

The two of them walked on, talking in a similar manner when suddenly Ruby's eyes fell on something and her eyes widened. She saw a young child, and a pipe from renovation site roll down the scaffolding. In one second she made her decision, activating her semblance and speeding forward in a flurry of petals. She caught the child and shoved it out of the way of the falling pipe, but her heroic act had a price. Her semblance ran out pretty quickly, but the gained momentum from it threw her across the pavement and onto the road. She heard a scream and an unmistakable sound of a car engine. She scrambled to her feet and her eyes winded at the sight of a delivery truck. There was nowhere to run, she would not be able to get out of the way! She shut her eyes, waiting for the impact but it never came. Instead, she felt a rush of air on her face and heard a mix of a halting and crushing sound. She blinked, opening her eyes and froze in shock. There, right in front of her, holding the car in place was Penny! Ruby could only stare at her newest friend, standing there completely unharmed. Her eyes slowly went down and she saw large trails in the street, where the redhead was standing. In that very moment, her friend's voice cut through the air, causing her to look up.

"Are you alright?" asked Penny, directing her words to the driver-whom Ruby recognised as the shopkeeper from the dust shop she'd met Roman at- who nodded silently. Upon hearing the confirmation Penny set the car down with a thud. She turned to Ruby, most likely to ask the same question, but stopped herself and looked around. Ruby did the same and saw quite a huge crowd gathered around them. The people were watching them in awe, whispering amongst themselves. Penny's green eyes winded and she made few steps back as if realising something before turning around and speeding away in clear fright. Ruby stood there for a while, dub struck watching after her friend, before finally breaking out of her stupor and giving chase. She needed answers, to the thousands of questions that danced around her head, but more importantly, she needed to make sure Penny was alright. After all, she had stopped a car with her bare hands! Even for someone possessing an aura, it would be damaging!

"Penny! Wait!" she called after the ginger-haired girl, as soon as they found themselves out of the crowd "Penny!"

She ran after her friends for several more minutes but finally caught up with her around the corner. Penny not knowing Vale at all-not that Ruby knew it much better, but still...- has reached a dead end in her attempt to escape.

"Penny!" exclaimed Ruby, running up to her "what happened? Was that your Semblance? Are you ok?"

Penny didn't answer, nervously looking around for a way to escape. Ruby came closer and put her hand on her shoulder

"Penny?" she asked.

"It was nothing!" exclaimed the ginger, a nervous hiccup escaping her mouth "nothing! Nothing happened!"

"Penny, please tell me what's wrong" pleaded Ruby, getting more worried with each second. She never wanted to scare her friend like this! "I won't judge you"

At the mention of the word Penny's eyes lit up with hope

"Really?" she asked, "You promise?"

Ruby nodded and smiled for a good measure. Penny fell silent as if reconsidering her options again before taking a deep breath.

"Ruby, I'm...not a real girl" she admitted softly, putting her hands forward. Ruby looked down, to see a bit of scrapped metal. For a second or two, she stood silently as the pieces of the puzzle fell into the place. Everything was clear now. Penny's strange behaviour and her way of talking, General Ironwood's over-protectiveness, the fact the ginger-haired girl never had friends and everything seemed so exciting and new to her like she saw it for the first time.

"Oh" was everything Ruby could say.

"Most girls are born" continued Penny "but I was built in a lab. I'm a first synthetic person who can generate aura...I'm not real" she added with such a sadness in her voice that it broke Ruby's heart in two. She didn't want her friend to feel like that! No one should feel like that about themselves. She looked Penny up and down, remembering their first encounter, Penny's happiness at being called a friend, her later helping them to look for Blake...and their today's conversation. She had never felt this comfortable with a stranger before! Penny was just so easy to talk to, to relate to. Ruby smiled, and gently put her hands over Penny's closing her fingers.

"Of course you're real," she said softly, before looking into her friend's eyes again "do you think that just because you have nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts it makes you any less real than me?"

There was no deception in her voice, nor was it an attempt to make Penny feel better, well it was but not completely. Ruby found herself confident of her words, believing in everything she was saying. That Penny must have expected something else was equally obvious because she gave her a questioning, suspicious look.

"You're...taking it extraordinarily well," she said slowly. Ruby shook her head

"I'm not crazy or in shock," she said, before taking a deep breath and looking her friend in the eye "you're not like those machines they show on TV or the ones that we train with at Beacon. You're not just programmed to say things and obey commands. You're warm and kind and friendly. Maybe a bit rough and new to this stuff, but I'll tell you what?" she asked leaning in "I'm not that good with people either"

Penny watched her for a while more before stepping forward and enveloping her in a steely a hug.

"Oh, Ruby, you're the best friend anyone could ever have!" squealed the read-head.

"I can understand why your father would be so protective of such a delicate flower" gasped Ruby painfully, while she did indeed believe that Penny was a real girl it didn't change the fact that the other girl was build of hard metal, so her hugs were rather harsh and hurtful. Finally, after few more moments, Penny finally stepped back, still smiling.

"Oh, my father is really sweet," she said "he's the one who built me...well with little help from Mr Ironwood. He says it will be my job to save the world one day. That's why I'm at the Academy and at the Festival, to see if I'm ready for it"

Ruby was about to nod, when the meaning of what Penny said sunk in, or rather the tone in which she spoke them.

"Save the world? What do you mean? We're in a time of peace"

Penny tilted her head to the side

"That's not what Mr Ironwood says," she said, "he says that something big is gonna happen soon and that we all should be ready because huntsmen might not be enough. I think he's planning to make more people like me, and we're making completely new and better robots and new Paladin robots. They are huge mechas piloted by people, they're like two-legged tanks"

Ruby listened to all of this with wide eyes. Synthetic army? Something big brewing and huntsmen and huntresses were apparently not enough? New robots? Mechas? This all sounded unbelievable, but Penny was so innocent and so unaware...she wouldn't make this kind of thing up unless it was true. Ruby could feel it in her bones.

"But it's supposed to be a secret...well at least I'm supposed to be a secret" continued Penny

"You can count on me. Cross my heart and hope to die" said Ruby. Penny's eyes winded

"Oh, no! You don't have to die!" she exclaimed, grabbing Ruby's hands "Please don't die!"

For all her effort and understanding of Penny's lack of awareness, Ruby could not help but giggle.

"It's just a saying, Penny," she said "an expression. People use it to make their promise stronger. I'm not really going to die"

"Really?" asked the redhead, leaning in. Ruby nodded, smiling for a good measure. This seemed to reassure Penny because she smiled too and the next thing Ruby knew, the other girl enveloped yet another hug. This time, a little less painful though.

"That's so great!" exclaimed the android. In exactly that moment, something on her arm buzzed and she quickly stepped away.

"Oh," she said, looking at her arm "it's this late already? I'm very sorry Ruby, but I have to cut our time together" she turned to the crimson huntress "I have to get back home"

Ruby gave her a nod

"Well, I can still walk you a bit" she offered. Penny let out a happy cheer, and they set off together, chatting along the way. Finally, Penny spotted some Atlesian soldiers and ran towards them, waving back at Ruby as she did so. The red huntress returned the gesture, smiling warmly, but as soon as Penny turned and left with the two men, the reaper's smile faded, turning into worried and thoughtful expression. Her mind went back to Penny's revelations. She somehow felt that the girl was telling the truth. She sighed and looked at the sky, where she saw the Atlesian ships flying back and forth, and felt a shiver run down her spine. Suddenly, there seemed more reason for them to be there, and they seemed more menacing and eerie too. She let out a sigh. She somehow didn't feel like walking the streets and hunting for books anymore. She turned around and headed for the bullhead station to return to Beacon

* * *

 

**Yes, this is the same story again. Re-written. Again. Mostly because I didn't wanna deal with season 1. There is little that I've changed there, the only thing is the fight at the docks not being there, so I saw no point in writing a number of skippable transcript chapters that bring nothing new to the table. So we begin with season 2, which is where the AU really starts out(as you've noticed in this chapter already. Penny and Ruby meet way earlier than they had in canon and in different circumstances)**

 


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few days since her fateful meeting with Penny and Ruby couldn't stop thinking about it.

The possible end of the peace they'd all been enjoying, some kind of great evil that huntsmen and huntresses couldn't stand against? Ruby had been turning those words in her head, searching for some kind of connection, a sign that this was going on for a while, and the only thing out of order were the dust robberies. They had been popping up on the local news a bit more frequently, but that was all. And was it really something this big? She had never really paid attention to the crime news, or any news to be honest. It always bored the hell out of her, but she wished she had now. Maybe then she would be able to draw some more conclusions, notice things earlier. How much important information did she miss, because it seemed too mundane? Didn't all the detectives in the shows always say to pay attention to everything no matter how unimportant it may seem to you?

"Hey, sis, you alright?" Yang's voice brought her back to the reality. She blinked a couple of times, before looking up at her elder sister standing above her, with Blake and Weiss behind her.

"Yes," agreed Weiss, "You've been acting strange lately. You've been spacing out during lessons more than you usually do. You even slacked off in Professor Goodwitch's class, and if there is any class that can keep you hyper-focused it's Combat Training"

Ruby let out a sigh. They were right. She had been out of it lately but with what she has learned who could blame her?

"Sorry," she said "I'm just...can we take it to somewhere more private? I don't want anyone to overhear us."

She didn't know if that was a good decision but maybe talking to her team would provide some clues? And if not, she would at least be able to get it off her chest. She didn't have anyone else to talk it over with. Her father was all the way in Patch and it wasn't a conversation for a Scroll. Not to mention if she told him anything like that, and he believed her, he would get overprotective, and even call Headmaster Ozpin which could get Penny into some sort of trouble. Uncle Qrow, on the other hand, would take it much better but he was on another lengthy mission in the middle of nowhere, and there was no contact with him. She couldn't go to the teachers either. She didn't think they'd believe her in the first place. Professor Ozpin? Again she didn't want to get Penny, or herself in trouble. Even if he knew-which he probably did give his cryptic behaviour and knowledge of everything that was going on even if he wasn't there for it-  _she_ wasn't supposed to.

"So?" asked Yang, when they finally reached their dorm.

Ruby took a deep, calming breath. She felt nervous but there was no going back from here. So she told her friends what Penny had told her, leaving out the bits about the girl's secret. Her teammates' reaction wasn't very promising.

"This is crazy," said Weiss bluntly, shaking her head as she crossed her arms, "I always knew you were naive, but this is just impossible"

"It does seem rather fanciful" added Blake gently

Ruby turned her eyes to Yang in hopes that her sister would say something more supportive but Yang only shook her head and smiled

"She was just playin' ya, sis you're pretty gullible," she said, ruffling Ruby's head

"No she wasn't!" argued the girl, dodging the hand "Remember how we first met her? How she helped us looking for Blake? Do you really think she'd lie?"

Yang sighed

"I'm not saying she did it in a bad way," she explained "maybe she just has an overactive imagination or maybe she made it up to seem more interesting. You said she doesn't have any friends, right? Maybe she thought that telling a story like that would get her some?"

"No!" Ruby shook her head "She knew what she was talking about, and she didn't go out of her way to tell me. It sort of came out when we were talking. You weren't there Yang, you didn't hear the way she said that. I'm telling you. I can feel it. She was telling the truth. There's something in the air! Just look at the dust robberies. It's on the news all the time!"

"That doesn't prove much," said Blake "this could just be a thief"

"Yeah, or it maybe someone with a grudge against Schnees" added Yang "I'm pretty sure Ice Queen's family has those in droves"

Weiss grimaced at the nickname and glared at Yang, but still, she nodded

"She's right," she said "there are plenty of people who hold grudges against us. My father...has't always been fair to people"

"That's putting it lightly" muttered Blake

"Well, ok," said Ruby "but it might be something else, too! We could just check it out! We're gonna be huntresses, and we can't just ignore it! Please, let's just check the robberies and see what comes up!"

As she said that, she clasped her hands together and gave her teammates the most pleading look she could muster. Finally, Yang let out a sigh.

"Fine," she said "we'll check out the robberies"

Ruby let out a squeal

"Thanks, sis! You're the best!" she exclaimed, hugging her older sister "I'll go and get some paper! So we can make plans!"

With that, she was out of the door.

"You're supporting this?" asked Weiss as soon as she was sure their leader was out of the earshot, "You said it yourself, this could be this Penny girl just letting her imagination go wild. She certainly seemed odd when we first met her"

Yang shook her head.

"I'm not saying I believe in this stuff. It does sound like a crazy story," she said "but I know my sister, and I know that look. She's dead set about this thing, and if we don't do anything she'll drive herself up the wall. If we go with her then we can at least show her there's nothing wrong. And it's not like we got much better to do, anyway. The second semester just started, there's no exams or tests to cram for, there's the Vytal Tournament but our teamwork and combat skills are great. I mean, just look at that food fight we had a couple of days ago! We totally beat JNPR! And anyway there's still a couple of months. We can give up one weekend, and sniff around a bit"

"I guess it could be useful," said Blake slowly, "we could improve our investigation skills on these robberies. If it's a petty thief or even a group of people I guess we could handle them, or at least pass some information to the authorities. And if you say it'll help Ruby let go..."

"Great!" smiled Yang "so it's two for the plan! That leaves only the Ice Queen"

"I still think this is stupid," declared Weiss, "and I think you're only encouraging Ruby in her behaviour, but I will go with you. I can't leave you all to your own devices and none of you know as much about Dust as I do. And if it is someone with a grudge against the Schnees, it is my duty to get involved and bring them to justice. And of course, help our leader," she added, catching Yang's gaze.

"That's the spirit!" cheered the blond "Whole team's on board! Let's start the mission RUBY!"

* * *

"So," said Ruby couple of minutes later, when they were all sitting up on the floor with a map of Vale, "here's the plan. When I stopped Torchwick at From Dust till Dawn, he had some goons with him and I found out that cops found shards of red glass on the scene of the next two robberies. So we'll start with Junior's Club"

"Who is that and what does he have to do with it?" asked Weiss

"A friend of mine" said Yang "well...at least I used to go to his club to unwind. He has a bunch of henchmen for hire, and they all wear red glasses"

"Yup," confirmed Ruby, "he might know what's up, and maybe he'll know who that woman was"

"What woman?" asked the team. This time all of them were surprised.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" asked Ruby "when I went after Torchwick that night there was a woman with him. I couldn't see her face, but I remember she was wearing a red dress with dust sewn into it. Oh, and heels"

"That's not much" Weiss crossed her arms "Sewing dust into the clothes is an age-old technique. A lot of people do it. Both for utility and fashion purposes"

"That's one more reason to go to Junior," said Ruby "he can help us pin her down"

"Alright," said Yang "we go to Junior's tonight. Though I suggest we all dress up a little. To fit in. Especially you, Ice Queen"

"What's wrong with my clothes?" asked the white-haired girl, slightly offended "they are the latest trend"

"Exactly," said Yang "they're too fancy for Junior's. Patron's won't be too eager to talk. Except for all the con-artists. They'd like a rich girlfriend or at least someone who'll pay for their drinks for the night"

Weiss wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Fine," she said

"Great. That's settled, then" beamed Ruby "Team RWBY we have a mission!"


	3. Chapter 3

As evening came over Vale, team RWBY found themselves downtown, all of them dressed up for the occasion. Blake was wearing a black shirt with a diamond crop out and a pair of tight black pants. Yang wore a deep collar vest over which she had a quarter-sleeve shrug. The outfit was completed by a short skirt with attached stockings, and a belt with a purple sash. Weiss wore a short white, strapped lace dress with a silver bolero, and a pair of high heels. Out of all of them, Ruby was dressed most conservatively, in a long-sleeved grey shirt, red skirt bearing her emblem and a black pinafore.

"We're here," said Yang, when they finally stopped before a tall brick building with shut-up windows and an old, glowing neon sign. Loud music blared from the brick walls. Weiss wrinkled her nose in disgust. This was the last place she-as a Schnee- would like to be seen at! If her father or sister saw her she'd die on the spot!

"Come on," said Ruby "let's get in!"

"Wait," said her sister, catching her by the collar of her signature red cape "I better go in first"

Ruby nodded, stepping aside. Yang straightened her pose a little bit, and went straight in, with the others following after her. The club was pretty modern and loud, decorated in black-whites-and reds, with bright lights flashing on and off.

"Hello," said Yang loudly, and as soon as the word left her lips there was a bunch of men in black suits and red glasses pointing guns at her. Her teammates all reached for their weapons, but the blond just shrugged with a smile.

"Yang, what exactly did you do in this place?" demanded Weiss

Before the blond could respond in anyway shape or form a rough male voice called the men away, and soon a tall, bear-like man in a barman suit came in. The rest of the team assumed that it had to be Junior. He was the only one who didn't wear glasses, and he held himself with an air of authority.

"Blondie, what are you doing here?" he asked glaring at Yang, but there was a ghost of fear in his eyes and voice, causing Weiss and Blake to once again wonder what did Yang do to him and his club the last time she was here.

"Maybe we could talk somewhere less crowded?" asked the girl. He looked like he wanted to argue but meeting her gaze he decided against it and nodded.

"Let's go to my office," he said leading them across the dance floor, to a small soundproof room "so?" he asked after closing the door

"The dust robberies," said Yang "couple of months ago, Dust until Dawn has been robbed by Roman Torchwick and your men. My sis kicked their asses" she pointed at the girl.

Junior raised his eyebrow, surprised by the size of the huntress. He had clearly been expecting someone a bit more intimidating.

"We also know there have been other robberies your men have been involved in" added Weiss, glaring at him "I must have you know, that neither I nor my father appreciate it when our goods are being stolen; but" she paused "I could let it slide if you give us some information"

Junior's eyes winded for a moment, but he regained his composure and sighed.

"Roman's come to me a couple of weeks before The Dust Until Dawn gig, and asked to borrow some of my men," he said "I did. After, blondie's sister kicked their asses,he'd been furious and said something about his boss giving him hell-"

"What boss?" interrupted him, Yang,

"Was she a woman in a red dress?" asked Ruby

"I don't know" answered the man "I've never seen them myself and neither did my men. I don't even know if it's really a woman. Roman was real vague about them. All I know is that they're powerful and have some big plans. He said that the world's gonna change and it's in my best interest to get along with his boss"

Ruby's eyes lit up with excitement, this was a clue! And a proof that she'd been right! There was something big going on! Her teammates, on the other hand, were more surprised and shocked. They didn't know what they were expecting to hear, but it certainly wasn't it.

"Did he say anything more?" asked Ruby eagerly

Junior shook his head

"No. I've already told you. He wasn't very specific about it"

"What about your men?" asked Blake. Junior sighed.

"Only a few of them came back, the rest...I guess they found a new employer" he said. There was a brief silence, as the girls processed the new information.

"Well, thank you," said Ruby at long last "you've been very helpful"

"Great," said Weiss " now, if the interrogations are over can we leave this place? There is an hour or so left until curfew and I really wouldn't like to begin my second semester with detention"

The rest of team RWBY looked at their scrolls. Weiss was right, they really didn't have that much time left and none of them really wanted to get into Professor Goodwitch's bad books, or be questioned by her about their little escapade.

"Alright," said Ruby "come on, team, we're leaving. And thank you once again" she told Junior before heading towards the door, with her team in tow. Yang, however, stopped at the door and turned around

"You still owe me that drink though," she said before winking at him and shutting the door behind her.

* * *

"I've told you, didn't I?" asked Ruby as they walked down the street "something's going on!"

"Yeah" agreed Yang "you had a hunch with this one, sis. So what do we do now?"

"We should tell Professor Goodwitch or call the police," said Weiss "whatever it is, we're clearly way over our heads here. We should leave it to the adults"

"And what are we gonna tell them? If we say anything they're gonna ask more questions like how do we know this, where did we learn that. And we'd have to tell them about our little trip today. Do you wanna get in trouble?"

"Yeah" agreed Ruby "besides we can't tell them anything without bringing Penny into the mix, and I don't want her to get in trouble with General Ironwood"

"I still think that-" begun Weiss, but before she could finish Ruby put her hand over her mouth. The heiress furrowed her brow and was about to pull the hand away and scold her teammate, demanding what was going on when she heard a low hum of the car engine and heard a male voice calling out to someone. She gave a nod, and Ruby let go of her, signalling everyone to hide in one of the nearby dead-end streets. From there they could observe what was going on and soon enough they saw a man in a white coat and bowler hat, with a cane in his hand and cigar in his mouth.

"Alright, this way," he said as he walked "and hurry up there, you useless maggots!"

Soon enough the car came into the view, with large crates, stripped to it's back. She let out a gasp. These crates bore a large black snowflake, still visible in the dim light of the street lamps. It was Schnee dust. She felt anger boil inside of her. These petty ne'er-do-wells were stealing tons of the valuable goods, costing her family thousands of lien, which in turn caused her father's sour moods. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the picture of the man, pacing around and yelling flashed before her eyes. How many times when something like this happened, he came back home and took it out on the servants? Or even his children and wife? How many times did she hide in her room, behind locked doors, covering her ears from the shrill, angry voices? How many times did she see her mother escaping to the garden with a bruise under her eye, to get a drink? How many times she herself felt the stinging pain of a slap? Just because she did a minor misstep or the tone of her voice ticked her father off because he was tired and angry at something at work? She clenched her teeth and balled her fists, her grip on her rapier so hard that it turned her knuckles white.

"Weiss?" she heard Yang whisper by her ear, "you alright?"

She blinked a couple of times.

"Y-yeah," she stammered out

"Guys, come on let's get closer" whispered Ruby, moving forward. They all followed her lead, Weiss even more eagerly now, her previous plan to not get involved forgotten. Roman Torchwick had to go down! It was her duty as the heiress to the SDC, to help to bring him to justice.

They found themselves behind another building, a bit closer to the convoy, peering out. What they saw made all of them gasp. Aside from the dust containers, there was another truck, this time with several huge robots on it. These had to be the Atlesian Paladins, that Penny girl spoke about to Ruby. They watched Roman halt the convoy before he reached into his pocket to take out his scroll. He then turned to his henchmen

"Alright, people," he said, "instructions are here, we're movin' south-east!"

There was silence, and some of the henchmen seemed to whisper amongst each other. Finally one of them stepped forward

"Excuse me, boss," he said "but south-east? It's kinda dangerous there..."

"That's the point, you idiot," replied Roman "cops and the Tin Man, they won't be lookin' for us there! Now stop whining and move on! Our queen wants us there before morning, and we need to move by backstreets so nobody sees us, and the queen doesn't like people being late. You don't wanna disappoint her, now do you?"

The henchmen all seem to shrink, and the one who spoke back off, getting back into the truck.

"Come on, we need to follow them!" whispered Ruby, again moving forward first. At that moment, however, one of the men leaned out of the truck and looked into the mirror, before turning around.

"Boss!" he cried out "we've got company!"

Well, there went the stealthy approach...The girls reached for their weapons and pulled them out. Roman turned to them and a second later he fired a dust bullet from his cane.

"Shoot!" he yelled at his henchmen, who all pulled out their guns and begun shooting, covering him as he climbed into one of the paladins. He broke the ropes as he activated it and jumped over his lackeys, running straight at the team. The girls turned around, breaking into a run.

"No!" shouted Blake as they turned towards the alley that lead to the main highway "we can't lead them to the main streets! Innocent people will get hurt!"

"Yeah, but where do we?" asked Weiss

"I've got it!" cried Yang "there's an empty lot a bit away from Junior's club, they were going to build something there, but it failed! We could lead him there!"

"Alright!" nodded Ruby "it's time for distraction! Weiss, do you have any ice-dust?"

"Yeah, but I doubt it'll stop him for long."

"It's ok, we just need a few seconds to turn the right way!" replied her leader. Weiss nodded and turned around to shoot the ice out of her rapier causing Roman to slip and lose control for a second, allowing her and the team to turn around and run towards the empty lot. It wasn't long before they got there, and it wasn't long before Roman found them too.

"Little Red, Little Red" he spoke, his voice somewhat altered by the speakers "we meet again, and this time you brought friends! But you see, I've got power-up too! Let's see how you can handle this!"

With that he swiped the Paladin's huge arm, forcing team RWBY to jump away.

"Ok," said Ruby "team RWBY, it's time to check if our training paid off. Freezerburn!"

Yang and Weiss jumped forward, the latter creating another patch of ice while the former used her strength and fire to create a vapour out of it, which blinded Roman, causing him to rely on the movement lasers. Then Blake passed him on the right, causing him to turn only to find the place vacant, and Yang threw a punch on the left, again making him turn in vain. Finally, the two girls met, he shot at them but they got out of the way causing him to miss while creating an opening and clear shot at his face for Ruby.

"Checkmate!" she called, and this time Blake and Weiss moved, slashing at Roman causing him to stumble around, and waste his ammunition and swipes on nothing, as they made their escape with acrobatics and glyphs.

She caught Blake's eye, calling out "Ladybug!" as the two of them moved forward.

First Blake created a clone to distract him and then the two of them attacked from behind, cutting off the Paladin's arm. A second later Yang came in, and not giving Roman a chance to get his bearings, shot a load of bullets into the neck of the mecha. She then jumped away. Roman tried to hit her, but she put her arms forward and her eyes turned red as her hair and body caught fire. It took one strong punch to shatter the other arm. Ruby called out another order, this time for Blake and Yang. The black-haired girl wrapped her ribbon around Yang's wrist, spinning her around as the blond kept shooting. Meanwhile Weiss and Ruby got into their positions, the fencer creating glyphs to direct her leader's bullets. It only took few of those and a strong, speed-amplified punch from Yang to shatter the paladin completely, causing Roman to roll around in dust and dirt.

"I just gotten this cleaned" he cursed as he dusted off his white coat. Yang again didn't let him recover, taking a shot at him, but before it could hit and take him down a young girl appeared completely out of nowhere and blocked it with her umbrella. As she lifted it up, team RWBY met with a pale face and mismatched brown-and pink eyes that perfectly fit hair of the same colour. The stranger was short, dressed in grey pants and white-and-pink coat. Where did she come from?

"Ladies, Ice Queen," said Roman, giving them a mocking salute

"Hey!" cried Weiss, offended. He paid her no attention, only bowed mockingly, before nodding at his new friend.

"Neo, if you'd be so kind," he said to her. The girl? Young woman? It was hard to tell her age really, bowed again and team RWBY got ready for an attack that...never really came. The girls exchanged confused looks, waiting for some sort of trick but in vain. Finally, unable to keep still Yang, dashed forward and punched their enemies, but instead of sending them flying into, the pair shattered like glass. Yang straightened up, blinking in confusion. The rest of the team looked around, waiting for a surprise attack that never came. Finally, Weiss and Blake used wind dust to clear the mist to see better, but they found out that they were alone.

"W-what was that?" asked Yang "some kind of illusion semblance? Ruby, have you seen this girl before? Is she the one from the helicopter?"

Ruby shook her head "No,"

"But you didn't see her, right?" asked Weiss

"Not well," clarified the young leader, "but that woman was different. She was much taller and wore heels, and she didn't use any weapons. She just...sort of conjured fire from her hands. Also, she had a different aura about her"

"Well, I guess he found himself another henchman then," said Yang "So, what do we do now? I don't think we can follow Roman anymore, his men probably scrambled when he took us on and trying to find him will be pointless."

Ruby sighed, knowing that her sister was right.

"I guess we should head back to Beacon." she said "It's way past our curfew, we've done what we could. I mean we know he's behind all this and we know where their base is"

Her teammates nodded in agreement, they were exhausted and none of them really wanted to get into Professor Goodwitch's bad books, so they sheathed their weapons and made their way back to the campus. None of them could deny that something was on now, the question remained what was it? And what should they do about it?

* * *

**And this is the end of chapter 3. I hope you liked it.**


	4. Chapter 4

Cinder was pacing back and forth in their new hideout in south-east Vale, the click-clack sound of her heels, echoing in the stone walls. Before her stood Roman with his head hung low.

"So, you're telling me that you've got defeated by four teenagers? And that the silver eyed girl was there with them?"

He nodded

"Yes ma'am," he said

"I've told you to be careful," she said "I've told you, no more fuck ups. The VPD is already investigating the robberies"

"I was careful" he replied "I've chosen small backstreets and we've been on the lookout all the time. Little Red and her friends just popped out. Besides, I gave them the slip and they didn't follow me"

"But you've been seen," said Cinder "if they tell Ironwood or Ozpin, they'll send their troops and huntsmen here and even with paladins we're no match for Atlesian army. Not in a direct confrontation. If my plan is to work, I need discretion! I cannot be found our or connected with what happened"

"I know," he said "and I promise, I won't let it happen again"

"You better don't," she said, finally turning to him, her golden eyes glowing with anger "and now go, we have a lot of preparations to do"

He bowed to her again in silence, before leaving and shouting at his lackeys to get a move on. Cinder let out a sigh, and fell on her chair, in exasperation. This wasn't good, while she wasn't one to worry about a bunch of kids the presence of the girl with silver eyes was a concern. This kid has already given them trouble during the Dust and Dawn robbery, and her actions attracted a huntress. And not any random one either, but Glynda Goodwitch, vice headmistress of Beacon Academy and trusted member of Ozpin's inner circle. And worst of all the woman has seen Cinder, if that girl and her friends were to say anything, Cinder's great plan was in jeopardy.

She gritted her teeth, thinking back to her childhood. She had always been unlucky. She wasn't poor as a child or anything like that, but she wasn't rich either. Her family was pretty average, but as fate would have it she was an ambitious and competitive person. She didn't just want to settle down with a desk job like her mother, she didn't want to be a teacher or PA. She wanted to be the head of company or headmistress. She didn't want the role of the maid or the best friend, she wanted to be the heroine. But it never worked out. She was always the second or even the third choice. When she tried to become a class president in high school, someone else got the position, she didn't even get to be the treasurer. When she once fell for a hot, popular boy he rejected her and went out with somebody else, and to add insult to injury they were both crowned king and queen of the prom. And the girl wasn't even that pretty. Cinder was the most beautiful. And beauty was the most powerful weapon. Her mother told her so.

But she could've survived school. It was just school and kids were idiots. But it never ended with school. Later in her life, when she would apply to a model agency or tried for a role, it ended up in failure. Her acting roles were so small she wasn't even credited. If she got any in the first place because usually, everything went to the other girls and women, or there were no spots left anymore. Always. She clenched her fists. No, this time it will be different. This time her plan would work and she would come out on top, and everyone who ever slighted her would be sorry they never appreciated her. She'd make sure of that. And no silver-eyed girls will stand in her way.

* * *

Back at Beacon Team RWBY was trying to figure out what should they do with the information they have collected on the previous night.

"I still think we should go to Professor Goodwitch or General Ironwood," said Weiss, crossing her arms "I've slept on this and I think the best thing is to tell them and let them call the authorities"

"But what about Penny?" asked Ruby, once again feeling the need to remind her teammate about the Atlesian girl "I've told you, I don't want her to get in trouble"

"We don't need to mention her" answered the heiress "it would be enough to say that we saw Roman with stolen dust and military equipment"

"Yeah, but as I've told you yesterday they'll ask why we were there in the first place" pointed out Yang "and we can't tell them about Junior"

"You had, but out meeting with Roman changed a lot. We can say we were having a girl's night out and saw Roman and followed him downtown," explained Weiss "and if they ask why didn't we call the police we can say we didn't want him to get away and we let our curiosity get the better of us"

"But what about our weapons?" asked Blake "they're gonna ask us about it too. If it was just an innocent outing why did we bring weapons?"

"We called our lockers" answered the white-haired girl "or we wanted to train outside the school. After all, we will be fighting in a populated area when we become huntresses, and school training hall can't provide for that. And even during Vytal, there will be different environments to tackle. We just wanted to be prepared"

The other three looked at each other, it didn't sound most convincing to them but maybe Weiss was right? Maybe they should let the authorities deal with it? After all, it wasn't like they could go to south-east all on their own. It was too big of an area, and police and military would have more equipment, right?

"Fine," said Ruby at long last "Let's go then. The faster we tell them, the faster they'll do something about it"

The others nodded and got up as well. They headed straight towards Ozpin's office and met Glynda there.

"Oh, team RWBY," said the woman, eyeing them curiously "to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Good Morning Professor," greeted Ruby "we, um...we wanted to talk to Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood. It's really important"

"We know everyone is busy with the festival approaching" added Weiss "but we really need to speak to them. It's about Roman Torchwick. We have new information about the dust robberies, but it's not something we'd wish to discuss here on the corridor"

Glynda's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She watched them for a long while, before sighing

"Wait here," she said, before pulling out her scroll "Professor Ozpin, Miss Rose and her team wish to speak to you. They say they have some information about Roman Torchwick"

There was a moment of silence, as the headmaster replied. Glynda only nodded in response, not giving Team RWBY, any indication as to what that answer was, before turning to them.

"The Professor will see you now," she said "follow me"

She turned around and pressed the button, summoning the elevator. All five of them went in, and soon enough they were whisked upstairs. The door opened with a ding, and Glynda lead them all into the office. All four girls looked around first, taking in their surroundings. It was the first time any of them has been in the Headmaster's office. The room was spacious, with great gears moving at the top of it, like a clock tower. Professor Ozpin was sitting behind a large, glass desk with gears underneath. Behind him, was a large window with spectacular view of not only the campus but whole of Vale.

"Ah, girls how good to see you," he said with a smile

"Um, hi," said Ruby, returning the smile. In that moment her eyes fell on a man standing in the corner, by the windows. He was tall and had black hair, with two white stripes. His straight pose and white uniform imminently gave him away. It was General Ironwood.

"This is my friend and the headmaster of Atlas Academy, James Ironwood." said Ozpin, only confirming that conclusion " James, these are the girls I've told you about. This is the leader of Team RWBY, Miss Rose" he said pointing at the young leader

"Um, Hi," said the girl, smiling and waving "nice to meet you, General"

"The pleasure's all mine" replied the man

"These are Misses Xiao-Long and Belladonna" continued Ozpin, and the girls respectively waved and gave a polite nod "and I believe you've already met Miss Schnee"

"Yes," said the General "we've met a couple of times. I'm glad to see you well Miss Weiss, and I hope that Beacon Academy agrees with you"

"Likewise, General," said Weiss, curtsying "and yes, Beacon was a good choice. I'm very happy to be here. I've learned a lot being here"

"I'll be sure to pass this information onto your sister" replied Ironwood "she will be pleased to hear it"

"Thank you," said Weiss.

"Now, Miss Rose," said Ozpin, bringing everyone's attention back to himself and the matter at hand, "Glynda told us that your team has something important to communicate. We're all ears"

"Well, you see" started Ruby "we've gone out yesterday evening, and we sort of run into Roman Torchwick in one of the backstreets, and he was smuggling the stolen dust and some of the new paladins"

"What?" exclaimed General Ironwood, his face twisting in rage "that little-"

"James!" exclaimed Glynda, pointing with her head at the girls "there are students here!"

"I see" continued Ozpin, paying no attention to the little interruption "and what did you do then?"

"Well, we followed after him, we wanted to know more, since...well I fought him before and the police haven't caught him yet," said Ruby "I mean. I know we should've called the cops and all, but we sort of haven't thought of it at the time. We just didn't wanna him to escape again"

"He was heading to his new hideout" interjected Weiss, seeing that her leader was getting lost in her excuses "and we overheard him saying it was somewhere in south-east Vale"

"Interesting" nodded Ozpin "we're very thankful for your information. Though I have to ask, you wouldn't happen to know about one of the paladins getting destroyed? Because it seems that people have heard some loud thuds and sounds of combat from the empty lot in downtown"

The girls looked at each other, and Ruby bowed her head, stepping from side to side.

"Well, funny you should mention that..." she said, "but you see..."

"Roman saw us," said Blake, taking upon herself to save situation this time "and started chasing us. We thought we could outrun him but the paladin was too fast and strong and we realised he won't care about any damages or causalities, so we had to lead him away and fight him"

"And we destroyed the paladin," said Weiss "we're very sorry, General"

"It's alright," said the General raising his hand "you've taken action and did your best to avoid hurting civilians and causing damage. Besides, this can be useful to us, we can use this data to make the paladins better and stronger"

"Um, thanks, I guess," said Ruby "so um...I guess that was all we wanted to say. We just wanted to give you the info on Roman and the stolen dust, so you can tell the police or send some huntsmen"

"Of course, Miss Rose," said Ozpin "we will inform the right authorities and proceed accordingly"

"Great!" grinned the girl "thank you!"

"You're welcomed, Miss Rose, you may leave"

"Thank you" repeated Ruby, and she and her friends turned around to leave when Ozpin stopped them

"By the way, Miss Rose" he called out "I would have forgotten. There is one more thing, a little favour I would like to ask you and your team"

"Yes?" asked the girl, turning around curiously

"It's about this year's Vytal School Dance," said the headmaster "I would like to ask you to organise it. Usually, it's the second or third years that take this on and this year it was supposed to be team CVFY but unfortunately, their mission is taking a little longer than expected. So they won't be able to make it in time for the preparations"

"We'll be honoured to take care of it," said Weiss before Ruby could even open her mouth.

"Wonderful, and now off you go," said Ozpin "you have some planning and homework to do, no doubt and me and the General have some things to discuss"

The girls could tell he was being serious, despite his polite and gentle tone so they nodded, and quickly ran towards the elevator. As soon as the door closed behind them and the gears screeched, signalising the elevator moving Ozpin's gentle smile disappeared and the other two occupants of the room turned to him.

"Do you think this might have something to do with Qrow's message?" asked Glynda after a moment of silence

"Maybe, it certainly sounds suspicious that a criminal like Torchwick would want to steal this much dust and military prototypes just for himself" nodded the headmaster "it's quite out of the man's character, and it does fall in line with our other investigations"

"Then we should send out the troops there right now, and apprehend him and his accomplice!" cried Ironwood

"No" shook his head Ozpin "we cannot do anything too rash"

"So, your solution is to sit here and wait?" asked the General in disbelief "Oz, I know you're careful but there is much is at stake here!"

"Exactly That is why we have to wait, and gather more information" pointed out Ozpin "we do not know the full plan of our enemy, and by winning one battle we might end up losing the war. Tell me, as a General would you rush into the battle, or would you send out scouts first?"

Ironwood clenched his fists, unable to find a counterargument.

"I hope you're right, Ozpin," he said "for the sake of your students as well as your own, I hope you're right"

* * *

"Well, that went easier than we thought," remarked Weiss "they didn't even ask us about our weapons, and we'll have the authorities working it. Torchwick will soon be in prison"

"And on top of that we get to plan a cool party" added Yang, grinning widely

"Yeah" nodded Ruby, but her response lacked her usual excrement. She wasn't that happy with having to deal with organising a dance. All these people, loud music and spotlight...and she probably would have to dress up in some uncomfortable dress and wear heels or other ridiculous shoes she couldn't even walk in without tripping and nearly breaking her ankles. And then there was Roman and the robberies. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she was still worried.

"Oh, come on, sis" Yang brought her back to reality, swinging her arm around her shoulders "it's gonna be fun! You really need to get over your people's issues. This isn't gonna be like the parties I used to have at home, with just my friends or like those forced class birthdays you had in the elementary school. There are gonna be more people you know, like JNPR and Sun and his team, and Penny too! And our team is organising it! It's gonna be the best party this school has ever seen!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Ruby rolling her eyes "well, I guess I should be happy Blake and Weiss are gonna be there too, so you won't go overboard, or do something stupid"

"Really, sis!" exclaimed the blonde, pulling back, and putting her arm to her chest in mock offend "when did I ever do something stupid?"

"Do you really wanna me to bring up a list?" asked Ruby

"You wound me," said Yang "you truly wound me"

Ruby shook her head, at her sister's antics. She turned to Weiss and Blake and saw them sigh and smile respectively, but they both were happy. Maybe she really should stop worrying about everything so much? After all, professor Ozpin and General promised to take care of the Torchwick situation, and she trusted them. If things went south the army would have it under control. So she pushed the doubts to the back of her mind, and smiled, joining her sister in laughs and teasing, promising to bring up the list of all the crazy party stuff the older girl had done.

* * *

Not **much happening in this chapter, but this seemed like a good way to end this. At least we got Cinder and her motivations. I know that she's based on Cinderella, but not every villain needs to be sympathetic with a tragic backstory and I just thought why not make a spin on it? And make her THINK she's a Cinderella while she's not really?**


	5. Chapter 5

Ruby cursed under her breath as she stumbled through the ballroom door. She hated high heels, but what could she do? Her sister insisted she had to wear them, because you apparently didn't wear a prom dress without heels. At least when your prom dress was short.

"Ruby! You look so cute!" cried Ruby looked up she saw her sister standing behind the podium, jumping up and down in her white dress and clapping her hands. Behind her, there was already a crowd of people, spinning around the dance floor.

"Thanks," mumbled Ruby, "you look nice too."

Yang smirked. "Oh, I know," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure the limelights' gonna be on me"

"Would you stop boasting? It's annoying," said Weiss from the side. Just like Yang, she was wearing a white dress though hers was a lot fancier than Yang's. Her sister wore a rather simple sleeveless dress with a deep neckline. Weiss's dress was more modest than Yang's in that aspect, the neckline being covered up, but at the same time, it was bizarrely cut out at the waist.

"What?" asked Yang, flipping her hair again, "I just know I'm hot stuff, so why be modest about it?"

Weiss groaned and had to stop herself from slapping her forehead. They had no time for arguing, however, as JNPR entered the room. Ren and Nora came up first, or rather Ren was dragged forth by his energetic partner.

"Wow, Renny, look at this place!" she exclaimed, looking around, her eyes darting from the balloons on the pillars to the streamers below the ceiling. "It looks like one of those fancy parties they show in the movies! Come on! Let's grab something to eat! I wonder if there's any pancakes!"

With that she grabbed the boy by the elbow with both hands and pulled him after her, making him trip over his feet.

"I must say, this really is a very elegant party. Congratulations on a job well done," said Pyrrha, who had come up next with Jaune, at her side. The girl was the only one so far to break from the norm when it came to her outfit. Her dress was red, and long, reaching all the way to her ankles, and with her golden tiara, she looked nothing short of a film star.

"Yeah," said Jaune, "it's really neat, you guys did an awesome job."

"Thanks," said Yang. " Have fun!"

"We most certainly will!" said Pyrrha offering them another smile, before letting Jaune lead her to the dance floor.

"Well, they seem happy," noted Yang with a smile. "Vomit boy finally got the memo, huh? And he looks sharp in that tux. You regret telling him off, Ice Queen?" she asked, turning to Weiss. The pale girl scoffed

"As if," she said, "he's not my type, but I'm glad he and Pyrrha got together. They make a good couple."

"So, with pretty much everyone here, what do we do now?" asked Ruby.

"Have fun!" answered Yang, and with that she and Weiss disappeared into the crowd, leaving the younger girl alone.

"Does that mean I can change out of these stupid things and into my cloak?" she called after her sister, gesturing at her own red dress.

She really hated these clothes. They clung to her too tightly, and despite having the same build-up at the cleavage as Weiss, the dress still felt too revealing for her tastes. She felt like she was almost naked, but it seemed like she had to get used to it. She swept the dance floor once again with her gaze and sighed deeply, before heading towards the table with the punch. She sincerely hoped Yang didn't add any alcohol to it. She then found herself a nice, sitting spot by the window. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hello there," said Sun. When she looked up she saw the boy standing over her, in a casual dark shirt and a loosened red tie.

"Oh, hi Sun," she said, offering him a smile, "what are you doing here? I thought you came with Blake."

"Yeah," he said "but Yang found out Neptune can't dance and decided to fix that and she roped in Blake, to help her show him the steps. I could tell I wasn't really needed there, and then I saw you sitting here all gloomy and wanted to check on you. So, why the long face?"

Ruby sighed "I...I'm not exactly a fancy, pantsy girl," she said, sinking in her chair. "I mean, how am I gonna dance in these stupid lady stilts?"

Sun raised an eyebrow. "You too, huh?" he asked. "I hate the formal get up too. Vacuo isn't a shirt and tie kinda place. I swear this damn thing is gonna suffocate me."

Ruby turned to him again. The party suddenly became much more interesting. She had at long last found someone, here at Beacon, who understood her struggle.

"Like, I don't get it, really," continued Sun, "this is a school party, why do we have to dress up? Why can't we all wear comfy clothes and just have fun?"

"Yeah!" nodded Ruby, eagerly, "it's not like it's our graduation party. We're not saying goodbye forever or anything. No one's getting married either, and anyway we're heroes, what if there's an attack? How are we gonna fight in these clothes? It's ridiculous!"

Sun let out a small chuckle at her frustrated expression

"Always thinking about heroing and fighting," he remarked, "you're pretty quirky, aren't you?"

"Hey!" she cried, shooting him a glare.

"I mean it in a good way," he defended, "it's kinda cute."

Ruby felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment and she looked away, embarrassed.

"Thank you," she mumbled. While she had been called cute before it was usually either in a teasing way by Yang or in an adoring way, by all the older ladies on Patch, and it was more about her child-like looks rather than her warrior spirit. For a while, there was a silence, before Sun finally spoke again.

"So...wanna dance?" he asked.

Ruby blinked in surprise, but the feeling didn't settle for long, giving away to embarrassment again.

"I'm not exactly a dancing girl," she answered, "especially not in these shoes."

"You can always take them off," he offered, "in Vacuo it's pretty standard for girls to drop their shoes halfway through the party, even if they don't wear lady stilts."

Ruby smiled but shook her head. "I really don't dance. At all," she said, "unless slashing Beowolves and beating up criminals is a dance"

Sun chuckled again. "Alright," he said, "well then, I'll hit the floor on my own. Need to stretch these legs. Great talking with you.."

"Same" she replied. He gave her a toothy grin and disappeared in the crowd.

Alone again, Ruby sighed, her mood somewhat dropping. It wasn't that she didn't like to dance at all, it was just…

She was a very shy person, and even if no one paid attention to her-which deep down she knew was very likely- the dance floor was far too crowded for her tastes. Not to mention dancing with another person, and a guy at that...she wasn't ready for it.

She took another sip of her punch before setting the cup down and glancing at the clock. It had been about an hour since the party started. Maybe she could leave? After all, Yang and Weiss were the chief organisers so they'd be around to fix any issues. She wouldn't be missed.

Having made her decision, she got up from her seat and slowly wobbled towards the entrance, cursing under her breath every two steps when her foot would slip or twist to the side. Finally, she made it outside and shivered lightly in the cool night breeze, before looking up into the starlit sky. In that exact moment, something flashed across it, and she saw a dark-clad figure skipping through the roof on the other side of the courtyard. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Something's wrong," she muttered to herself. What person with good intentions would wear dark clothes and travel via rooftops, so no one can see them? She made her decision then and there. This warranted an investigation. "But not in these shoes", she muttered to herself. She bent down and quickly discarded the pair, tossing them aside and letting out a sigh of relief.

'They seem to be going to the CCT tower,' she thought, following the mysterious figure along the grass. She also briefly wondered if she should summon her locker but decided against it. From their position on the rooftops, this person had the better vantage point and would see the locker coming, which would blow her cover. She needed to be smart about this. So for now, she only followed, watching closely, and the more she watched the more familiar this stranger seemed. It was as if she'd seen these moves somewhere. 'But where?'

She shook her head. Now was not the time. At one point the stranger disappeared behind one of the roofs, most likely jumping down. Ruby let out a silent curse; that was another advantage they had over her. She was confined to the ground so she had to go around, but that only made her more determined, and it wasn't long before she finally made it to the tower.

It was quiet there, eerily so. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked around. There was no one there, which was rather strange. With Atlas helping out with Vytal's security there were always pairs of guards patrolling the most frequented areas. General Ironwood was a militarily paranoid to the point where it was almost cliché. And then she saw him, a guard lying on the ground, out cold.

Her eyes widened in shock and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. In a flash-thanks to her semblance- she was at his side, putting her hand above his mouth. He was breathing, thank heavens, which meant that at least his attacker didn't aim to kill tonight.

'But it's better to be safe than sorry...'

With one last look around to make sure she was safe, she pulled out her scroll and summoned her locker. It landed on the road, making a huge hole in the stone path. Ruby grimaced. Glynda wouldn't be happy about it in the morning, but it was something she could worry about later. For now, there was a potential threat to deal with.

She ran to it and pulled out Crescent Rose, before heading for the tower and straight to the elevator. Inside she found another pair of knocked-out guards, a clear sign that the enemy had been here. She checked on them just to be safe and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt their pulses. A mere second after she got back to her feet, the door opened with a soft jingle. She looked around, to check for potential threats but the hallway was dark and empty. Creepy. She took a shaky breath and made her way forward, grimacing a little when her bare feet touched the cold floor. It was like walking on ice.

'Still, it's better than lady stilts,' she reminded herself, 'at least I can walk without breaking my legs. Or this person hearing my steps. I'll be able to surprise them.'

Tightening the grip on her weapon she made her way into the main communications room, the only place where the infiltrator could have gone to. She couldn't see anyone but she was sure someone had to be there. The screens were all switched on, sending a shiver of anticipation running down her spine. It was like in one of these horror movies Yang liked to watch; any minute now some sort of monster or a serial killer would jump out and...she shook her head.

'Focus Ruby' she told herself 'you're a huntress...'

"Hello?" she called out, trying to sound as casual as she could. "Anyone here?"

The next two or three seconds felt like an eternity, but finally, the mysterious stranger got up from behind one of the booths. It was a tall, black-haired woman in a black bodysuit and a fitting mask. She moved with almost cat-like grace as she made her way to Ruby.

"You know," said Ruby, more to give herself confidence rather than out of genuine desire to talk, "it isn't a masquerade party so-"

Before she could finish, the stranger pulled out her own weapon, -a bow, and as she prepared to fire, parts of her clothes lit up, as did her golden eyes. Ruby gasped, as she jumped out of the way, unfolding her scythe to stop the attack.

'It's her!' she thought, 'the woman from the plane!'

She didn't have time, however, for pondering on the matter and even this slight slip almost cost her dearly as another arrow flew her way, forcing her to block it with Crescent Rose at the last minute.

'Focus, Ruby,' she chided to herself as she reached for the trigger to fire her own bullet. She heard the gentle click of the upper part of her weapon shifting when the door suddenly opened and General Ironwood walked in. Ruby had never felt more happy to see a teacher come her way. This was over. She smirked and turned to her opponent to tell her just that, only to discover the spot empty. The woman has vanished into thin air as if by a magic trick and was nowhere to be seen.

'Wait, what?! 'Where did she go? She was here just a second ago! How did she...'

"Miss Rose?" Ironwood's voice broke her from her stupor. "What are you doing here?"

She spun around and felt her cheeks heat up as she suddenly realised the situation she was in.

A fifteen-year-old student, in an empty room, dressed in a prom dress and holding a giant scythe.

"I-I," she stammered, "I...can explain?"

The General nodded.

"Let's go and sit down then," he said, before pausing and looking down. "Miss Rose...where are your shoes?"

Somehow Ruby's cheeks went even redder than before.

* * *

 **So after a long break, I'm back. I'm sorry it took so long, to anyone that is reading this. Writer's block mixed together with mental health** stuff **and changes at work.**

* * *

**Special thanks to TwiceBorn for beta reading this and generally putting up with me, my non-native speaker issues with the English language and my long-winded rants about this story and it's world building. You're a lifesaver and a saint. And you guys should go and check out his stories:  https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwiceBorn/pseuds/TwiceBorn**

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank users TwiceBorn and drunkdragon for helping me out, and hearing out my rants about this fic. They're really wonderful and patient people for putting up with me. And they're genius writers too so go and check their stories. Drunkdragon has some really good one-shots and a very atmospheric paranormal Qrowin romance- Countess Dracula. And for people who are more into darker stuff he wrote Harsh Lesson. Which is a great fic starring Roman. It's really worth taking a look at and leaving a review.


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